Welcome!

What do you get when you cross a Dietitian with a Baker? Me! I am a Registered Dietitian from Cincinnati, Ohio. Oddly enough, I also have a Certificate of Baking and Pastry! While I like to eat natural, nutritious foods about 80% of the time, I don't see anything wrong with the occasional indulgence.Potassium Tube is a place where I will share healthy recipes, cooking and baking tips, and other things that inspire me to inspire you!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Accidental Hiatus

Sorry about my accidental hiatus away from the blog! I have been seeing a lot of people in the blog world (aka blogosphere) either quitting their blog altogether or just opting to take a break from it. I do not intend to do either of these things and will keep up with it to the best of my ability over these next few months. I mention the next few months because they are crammed packed with wedding showers, weddings (2 friends), bachelorette parties, graduations (4 cousins, 1 friend, and my brother), birthday parties, and a dinner my brother is hosting at my parent's house for all of his friends. Whew! That was exhausting just writing that out!! But I am SUPER-EXCITED for the events to occur (just please bear with me).

As I mentioned in a previous post, I just started a new job and so far I Love it! Every single person in the company has been extremely nice and have made me feel right at home. Hopefully I will know everything (well, it's impossible to know everything) soon and will feel more confident in myself and my abilities. One day after work I went to a nearby grocery store we have here in Cincinnati called Jungle Jim's. Now when I say grocery store, think bigger than Kroger, bigger than Fred Meyer, bigger than Wal-Mart and even bigger than CostCo! Jungle Jim's prides itself in being an International Market and a food lover's paradise. They're not lying either! They have just about every food you could imagine. Aisles and aisles of Italian, Indian, Mexican, Asian, and Greek cuisines and much more are able to hold my attention for hours on end. I once spent 4 hours in Jungle Jim's with a friend (we were doing a project for a Food Service class and doing our own shopping on the side!).

I provided the link to the store's website in the above paragraph- be sure to check it out and click on attractions to see the many amazing things the store has to offer. They have all sorts of fun things to keep kids and adults entertained from Soupy- the giant singing Campbell's Soup can, to their award-winning "America's Best Restrooms."

Here is a run-down of some of the awesomely (is that even a word?) weird things I bought during my visit:

Persimmons- I am SO glad that I tried these! They are almost like a cross between a tomato, plum, peach, and fig. They have a very thick skin and a soft flesh and let me just tell you that they rival figs as my favorite fruit! The sign said they are nature's candy and they were right on that!

Artichokes- Not a weird food at all, but they are delicious, on sale, and I had to have them!

This is a product called "pitted baking dates" and they are perfect for me because I wanted to buy dates to use in a recipe that I have and this was the cheaper option, plus less work for me! The only ingredient is dates so there are no added sugars. I will post the recipe when I get around to making it!

DoFu Delight. What is it you ask? I don't know and I have no clue why I bought it. It was in the asian aisle just screaming my name. According to the package it is a "Natural Agar Dessert" and "A favorite Asian Treat." Agar is basically a thickening agent (much like gelatin), that is made from seaweed, thus making it vegetarian. However, this particular product also uses gelatin for some odd reason. Oh well- I'll report back when I try it even if it's gross!

Bob's Red Mill Graham flour- I have always wanted to make my own graham crackers so I thought what better time than now?! Well I tried them and they weren't very good at all! Both my mom and brother spit them out! I used a recipe I found online, but it wasn't from a reputable source. Back to the drawing board...

This is a yeast that is especially for whole grain baking. My friend Angelica told me that she saw it and when I came across it---once again---I had to have it!

Whole Grain Sourdough Bread- Mmmmmmmm! I should have taken it out of the package for the picture; it was heavenly.

Chocolate Pizzelles- My aunt makes traditional pizzelles each year at Christmas and I love them, but there is just something about these chocolate ones I can't get enough of! I suggest you give them a try; at only 25 calories per cookie, they are the perfect "Summer is coming and I'm going to the beach" treat!

Yotta bar- I'm really not sure of what the name means, but this bar claimed to contain a full serving vegetables. I have to be honest and say that I didn't like it and didn't eat the whole thing!

Primal strips vegetarian jerky- One was made out of soy, one was seitan, and one was shiitake mushrooms. I have had them before and think they're really good and an awesome snack. I only wish they were cheaper!

If you live in the area, go to Jungle Jim's; if not, come visit and stay with me! Adios amigos!

4 comments:

DoFu delight seems interesting. Have you ever had boba/bubble tea? It's a sweet tapioca ball about 1/2" around. It seems like Asia has a lot of really gummy desserts, which I LOVE, but I know not a lot of Americans can handle. Let me know how it turns out!

mmm i love pizzelles! my grandma always has them. its funny cause at home we have a place called Jungle Jim's but its a big water park/put put golf place. so thats all i could think of when i read your post. too funny. i wish we had one of those stores in NY!